


Sin of Salvation

by rubylily



Category: Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi | Sunday Without God
Genre: Asphyxiation, Crucifixion, Gen, Guro, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-31 17:10:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubylily/pseuds/rubylily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"People look most alive when they're fighting death. Real death, not this façade of death God has left us."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sin of Salvation

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for bloodyvalentine, with crucifixion as the prompt.

To live for the sake of another was reason enough to exist, even in this world without death. Perhaps it wasn't the healthiest way to live, but Julie was content with living only to protect those he cared about.

It had been several weeks since he, Ai, Scar, and Celica had left Ostia, and Alice and Dee accompanied them, and the two of them were slowly adjusting to life free of the sealed city. The day before the group had just left a small village, whose inhabitants had warned them of a violent gang nearby.

Such news wasn't surprising to Julie. It was late enough that it was time for the group to set up camp, but he wanted to make sure the area was safe first, and with a forest nearby, it would be the perfect hiding spot for suspicious people. So he took his weapons and left the minibus on the road to check out the forest.

"You shouldn't follow me," Julie said to Ai standing behind him. "It's too dangerous out here. You heard those rumors, so stay with Scar and the others."

Ai held her shovel close. "But it's dangerous for you to go alone!" she protested. "What if you get hurt and there's no one around to help you?"

Julie sighed. "If I tell you to run, you run, no matter what. Promise me."

Ai gulped. "I… I promise," she said after a moment's hesitation.

"And stay close behind me," Julie added. Ai was right that it would be safer if he wasn't alone, but his gut told him he was making a huge mistake. However, he was prepared to sacrifice his own life to protect Ai if the need arose.

Ai glanced back at the minibus. "Will the others be all right…?" she wondered aloud.

"They will be if they stay put," Julie replied, more harshly than he had intended.

Ai said nothing else in reply, and thus she and Julie entered the forest. Through small, it was also very dense, and only a few of the sun's rays managed to make it through the trick trees, and once the sun set completely, it would be too dark to explore, so Julie had to work quickly.

The two of them walked in silence, with Ai holding onto the end of Julie's jacket. Finally, she asked, "Julie, you don't think that gang is like the one that killed Father, do you?"

"I don't know," Julie replied, his fingers tightening around his rifle. He also had his revolver in his jacket. "Maybe it's just a rumor. I didn't see any places a gang could be hiding while I was driving, but this forest is dense enough to hide in, so I need to make sure."

What he didn't say was that he wouldn't be surprised if another bloodthirsty gang like Hiko's existed. He had encountered such people before, living and deceased, and he was reluctant to admit to Ai that he had killed others to defend himself and his family. She most likely already suspected, though.

Much to Julie's surprise, Ai remained quiet as they explored the forest. He constantly looked back behind him to make sure she was still with him and to keep where they had entered the forest in sight. There was no clear path to follow and it didn't even seem like any human being had traveled through here in quite some time.

Even so, Julie couldn't shake the feeling something was off about this place. He was a hunter, and to his skilled eyes this forest seemed too perfectly undisturbed and far too quiet. He only heard his own breathing and Ai's.

If there were people here, they were very good at hiding their tracks.

"Ai, let's go back to the van," Julie said in a harsh whisper. "I can drive for a few more hours, so we can find someplace else to sleep."

"Huh?" Ai blinked in surprise. "But there's no one-"

She never finished that sentence as the sound of a gunshot rang out, and Julie briefly caught a glimpse of a silhouetted person carrying some kind of lantern in the distance. He grabbed Ai's arm and they both dropped to their knees to avoid being seen.

"Damn, how could I have missed them…?" Julie swore. He steadied his rifle, but the sight would be nearly useless once the sun set completely, which wouldn't be too much longer.

Ai's gaze was fixed on his weapon. "Julie, are you sure…?"

Julie held up a hand to silence her. "I can't say for certain. But if there's only one person, I can handle this."

However, he was immediately proven wrong when he heard sounds, mostly strange laughter and the snapping of twigs, of other people someplace behind him and Ai, and he also saw lights far ahead of them. He swore under his breath. It was likely he and Ai were surrounded.

"They're getting sloppy," he remarked in a voice so low he couldn't be sure Ai even heard him. "Probably because they know we've noticed them."

Ai drew closer to Julie. "W-What should we do?"

He set his rifle as slowly and as quietly as he could. "I'll lure them away," he said. "You can still see the way we came in, right? Keep low, and run back as quickly and quietly as you can."

Ai's green eyes widened in fear. "Julie, no!" she said as she seized his arm tightly. "I can't leave you behind!"

Julie gently pried Ai's fingers from his arm. "Ai, you promised me you would run away when I told you to, and now I'm telling you to run. Don't worry, I can handle a group like this no problem."

Ai bit her lower lip. "Then… promise me you'll come back!"

"I promise. Now go!"

Hesitating just a moment longer, Ai took off running in the direction they had entered from, keeping her head low.

When Ai was out of sight, Julie got up and fired his rifle at the first figure he spotted. He wasn't quite aiming to kill, but his rifle was noisy enough to draw attention. It was rapidly growing darker and since Ai was small, he hoped she would go unnoticed and that he would attract all the attention.

He heard other people rushing toward him, so he took off in the opposite direction Ai had gone, and as he ran he pulled back the bolt of his rifle to eject the empty cartridge, and then he caught and pocketed it to leave nothing of himself behind for those chasing him to find. There were at least three- no, four people following him, and he had no way of knowing if they were living or deceased, but in any case he had to either immobilize them completely or get clear of this forest. He suspected he would have to resort to the former.

The maniacal laughter that sounded all around him only confirmed his suspicions that he was dealing with some violent individuals.

_Ai, please be safe,_ he thought to himself.

He slid down a grassy knoll, and he heard less of the people chasing him. Had they given up? But it was too soon to tell though, he reminded himself as he knelt into a bushy groove. It would provide some cover while he caught his breath. He didn't want to remain idle to too long, as it would be harder for them to shoot him if he kept moving.

Inhaling several deep breathes, he shouldered his rifle and took his revolver from his jacket. He checked the chamber, and he had five bullets left. A smaller gun would be more useful now that the sun had set, and it was easier to use at close range. But if he needed a melee weapon, his rifle would suffice.

After giving his eyes a chance to adjust to the newly settled darkness, Julie tried to dash forward, but a strong hand suddenly seized his arm and a thin knife was held at his throat.

"You're not half-bad," said a male voice in Julie's ear. "But you left a pretty obvious trail."

Julie gritted his teeth. The knife was just about to cut into the flesh, and he could easily feel the sharpness of the blade. While he couldn't use his gun now, his other arm was still free, so he jabbed his elbow into his attacker's ribs. The other man let out a sharp cry of pain, and Julie seized the hand at his throat and then quickly turned around to swing his leg into his attacker's side, knocking him to the ground.

Julie stomped on the hand holding the knife and pointed his gun at the strange man's head. "Why are you following me?" he demanded to know.

The assailant smirked. He barely even looked twenty. "Because you'll make a good specimen."

"What are you-" Before Julie could finish that question, someone behind him wrapped garrote wire around his throat, choking him. His second attacker pulled him away from the first, and the strange man got back to his feet and then grabbed Julie's hand to wrestle his gun from him.

"Bring him to his knees," the first attacker said.

As Julie was forced to his knees, his hands went to his throat, but he couldn't get a grip on the wires. They bit into his skin, crushing his windpipe. He couldn't breathe at all.

His assailant knelt in front of him. "We won't kill you just yet," he told Julie, pulling something from his pocket. "That has to be special, you know?"

The wires around Julie's neck loosened, but before he could inhale any air, a piece of cloth was forced over his nose and mouth. It had been soaked in some kind of foul-smelling liquid, and he quickly lost consciousness.

* * *

Julie's entire body hurt, and as he forced his eyes open, he was nearly blinded by sudden light. Was it already morning? How long had he been unconscious? As his vision focused, he saw he was in some kind of crumbling building completely unfamiliar to him, and worse yet, his hands were securely tied behind his back. His jacket and shoes had been removed, presumably because his captors thought he had hidden weapons in them.

_His captors._

As those words echoed throughout his mind, he tried to get to his feet, but someone behind him grabbed his arms and pulled him to his knees, and then seized his hair to force his chin upwards. Before him stood a young, slender man with neatly cut, longish brown hair. He wore dark pants and a uniform-esque black jacket with a high collar and matching gloves, and there was a sadistic gleam in his pale eyes.

"You're awake already," the youth said. His voice was different from the one who had attacked Julie first in the forest. "Very impressive."

"Where am I?" Julie snapped. He scanned the area as best he could. To call this place a "building" would be too generous. Most of the roof had collapsed, and the walls had also fallen into disrepair, and scorch marks were clearly visible. He saw no one else but the youth, but he assumed there were other people behind him.

The youth chuckled as he knelt in front of Julie. "No where in particular," he answered. His voice was scratchy, as if he screamed often. "Just a good spot to hold our experiments."

Julie's eyes narrowed. "What experiments? What are you planning to do?"

"To execute you, of course!" the youth exclaimed, and a chorus of laughter erupted behind Julie. "Hang you, burn you, crucify you, whatever - to see how long it takes you to really die!"

"You're insane!" Julie screamed, and he tried to lunge forward, but the person behind him had a tight hold on him.

The youth seemed unfazed. "I know what you're thinking, we can't die without being buried by a gravekeeper," he went on, "but we're trying to see if that's really true! So far no one has really _truly_ died, but we're only been doing this for a year, and these kinds of experiments take time. We have lured a number of gravekeepers, though, and they're easier to kill than human beings!"

Julie felt sick to his stomach. The youth looked barely old enough to remember what the world was like before God left, so what memories would he have of death before the gravekeepers? That was assuming, of course, he wasn't deceased and was still living. Perhaps he was undead like that group that had killed Kizuna, and he almost even sounded like Hiko, although his appearance was far neater.

"Don't have anything to say for yourself?" the sadistic youth mocked. "There was a little girl with you, wasn't there? I wonder how a child would fit into our little experiment…?"

"You bastard!" The words were out of Julie's mouth before he had a chance to think. "I'll kill you if you even think of hurting her!" He struggled against the person restraining him, and a second person had to grab his arms to hold him down.

"It is truly unfortunate we couldn't capture her as well…" the youth mused. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a watch, and from it he pulled out a piece of garrote wire and held it to Julie's neck. "This looks nice against your skin."

Julie's throat went dry as the youth slowly looped the wire around his neck, and it was done with such grotesque care. Although the wires weren't pulled taut right away, his breathing still grew ragged, and the metallic coldness was sharp on his skin. They brushed against his flesh, almost teasing him with the pain they promised, and when they finally did tighten, it nearly came as a relief.

Biting painfully into the flesh of his throat, the wires were close to drawing blood, and he could feel them leaving deep marks. He tried to fight against the bindings, but his strength failed him as his lungs burned. He gaped in vain for air and saliva trailed from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were beginning to roll back as black tinted his vision.

The youth leaned in closer to Julie. "People look most alive when they're fighting death," he said in a low, heated voice as he pulled harder on the wires, choking Julie. "Real death, not this façade of death God has left us." He chuckled darkly. "You know, in a time long ago, people used to mark one another for death with a kiss." Thus he kissed Julie's blue lips, carefully and slowly.

With what little strength he had left, Julie bit down hard on the youth's lower lip, drawing blood.

But only the living could bleed…

The youth jerked back and the wires loosened around Julie's throat. Julie coughed as air filled his screaming lungs, and he could not hide his surprise as he met the youth's dark gaze.

"Surprised?" The youth wiped away the blood with the back of his gloved hand as he smiled, a sadistic smile with a tinge of sorrow. "We're all living here. We can't allow ourselves to die without first knowing the truth of death."

Julie said nothing in response. The taste of the youth's warm blood was still sharp on his lips.

"That really hurt, though," the youth added as he pulled the garrote free from Julie's throat, and he ran his fingers over the red marks the wires had left. "You're certainly a strong one."

He then began unbuttoning Julie's shirt, and his fingers seemed to fumble with the buttons, as if he was trying to resist the urge to simply rip the shirt open. When the buttons were finally undone, he slipped the shirt from Julie's shoulders, and the youth's eyes raked his bare chest. "Not bad… You'll be fun to execute. A noose would look good around your neck, or maybe…?"

"You're sick," Julie spat.

A frown was briefly visible on the youth's face, but then he simply smirked. "Take his shirt off," he ordered the people standing behind Julie.

Julie forced his expression to remain neutral. This was his chance.

His hands were unbound, and once his arms were free of his shirt, he lunged forward, finally unrestrained. He seized the youth's neck with both hands and pinned him to the ground. The youth's pulse was clear against Julie's hands, and even as he struggled his strength was no match for Julie's.

The others were on Julie in seconds. There were at least five of them - three men and two women - and they beat and kicked him while two of them grabbed his hands to try to pry his fingers from the youth's throat. Another kicked him hard in the stomach, and there was a sickening crack. Pain shot through his entire body, but until this youth was dead, he had to endure.

However, it soon grew to be too much. The others finally managed to pull Julie from the youth, and the youth quickly got back to his feet while clutching his bruised throat, and his tranquil sadism had been replaced by absolute fury. He sent a firm and swift kick to Julie's gut, and Julie could not help but scream.

Curled on the hard ground, Julie coughed and blood flew from his mouth. Was he bleeding internally? Shaking, he forced himself onto his hands and knees, and he threw up even more blood. He tried to stand, but pain coursed throughout his entire body. He couldn't die here, he told himself. He still had to protect Ai and the others…

The youth pressed his booted foot against Julie's head to pin him to the ground. "If only you were immortal like the Man-Eating Toy, then I could torture you as much as I wanted without you dying on me," he said, a manic smile on his lips. "So we'll crucify you instead. We don't do that often, so you should feel honored, and it just so happens we have a cross ready."

"You…" Julie hissed. It hurt to breathe, and he was fairly certain some of his ribs were broken.

His hands were tied behind his back once more, and two others forced him to his feet, and they kept a firm grip on his arms.

"Come this way, then," the youth said, and Julie was forced to follow him. They left the hollowed-out building, and outside was mostly barren with dead, yellow grass, and Julie could barely see any sign of the forest he had been in the previous night. Just how far has these people carried him?

Wherever these people were taking him, it was a long walk. In the distance he saw figures hanging from gallows and tied to burnt stakes, and shovels marking the graves of gravekeepers. The scent of burning and rotting flesh was overwhelming. He wondered just how long those deceased had been suffering, and he had to fight back the urge to vomit.

Finally they reached their destination, far away from the building and other methods of execution. A wooden cross lay upon a rack, and the youth could barely contain his excitement as he rushed over to it. "It's been a while since we've done something like this," he said as he removed his gloves. "It's gotten harder to build crosses that can hold the weight of an adult man."

As Julie was dragged toward the cross, the ropes binding his wrists were cut, but the two men restraining him made sure to keep a firm grasp on his hands as they tried to force him onto the cross. Even so, he still flailed and kicked wildly, despite the pain he was in.

He wasn't going to die without a fight. He wasn't going to die, period. He had promised to protect Scar, Celica, and the others. He had promised Ai he would return to her. After all this time, he had finally found a new reason to live.

"Bind his neck and feet first," the youth ordered his followers. He stood at the head of the cross, and when he tried to touch Julie's face, Julie attempted to bite his fingers, and he just barely had enough time to pull his hand back. His eyes narrowed, and he backhanded Julie across his face with surprising strength.

But that pain was nothing compared to the pain of his broken ribs, which had grown more intense, and he tasted blood at the back of his throat.

One of the men began to tie Julie's ankles to the wood while the taller of the two women wrapped rope tightly around his neck, although not so tightly he couldn't breathe. As he thrashed, he did manage to kick the man in the face, even knocking out a few teeth, but the man then used his body weight to hold down Julie's legs while he secured them to the cross.

Once his neck and ankles were tied, it took three of the figures to hold down his right arm, and when a long, thick nail was driven clean through his wrist, he screamed.

The youth smirked. "Let me get his other hand," he said, and the shorter woman handed him a rusty nail. He set the nail against Julie's left wrist, but when he pounded it, it didn't go through as easily.

Julie bit his lower lip to hold back his cry of pain. He didn't want to give the youth the satisfaction of another scream.

More blood gushed from the wound as the youth continued to pound the thick nail to force it through. Julie tried to jerk his wrists free of the nails, not caring how much skin would be torn away, but they were pinned to the wood and blood ran down his arms, and he could no longer suppress his cries of pain. The youth soon resorted to pushing down on the nail with nearly all of his body weight, and Julie had to shut his eyes tightly to hold back his tears. Pain shot through his entire arm, and his throat was sore from screaming. Finally the nail was forced completely through his wrist, and his body was drenched in sweat from a futile struggle.

"Get some ropes around his wrists too," the youth added as he took a step back, and his hands were covered in Julie's blood. "Last time we did this, the guy ended up falling off the cross."

Julie's wrists were bound as quickly as the youth had ordered, and the ropes were rough against his wounds. Once that was done, all five of the youth's followers pushed the cross into a standing position, facing Julie way from the morning sun.

Julie's breathing grew strained. It was even harder to inhale air now, and while there was a small platform for his feet, he had to stand on his toes to avoid strangling himself. However, being barefoot and shirtless, if he didn't die of asphyxiation, he would likely die of exposure if he were left here.

The youth stood in front of Julie, and his touched Julie's chest to feel his heartbeat, smearing blood against his skin. "You'll be able to see the sun set everyday as you wait for death," he told Julie. He drew his hand back, and then he licked some of Julie's blood from his fingers. "Maybe we'll even find that little girl and have her keep you company."

"Don't… don't you dare hurt her…" Julie hissed, his voice coarse.

The youth only laughed. "You're in no position to be making demands. Now, as much as it pains me to do so, I must take my leave. There are others waiting for us." To the others, he said, "Come now! We'll check on him in the morning!" They walked off, and before long they were completely out of sight.

All Julie could see before him were barren fields, and the harsh truth hit him: he was going to die soon. Even in the unlikely event someone did manage to find and rescue him, he doubted he would be able to find a doctor to treat his wounds in time, but at least then he would have the luxury of being buried by a gravekeeper. Here, even if a gravekeeper sensed his presence, they would most likely end up captured and tortured by those sadistic freaks.

His wrists still bled and he could barely move his fingers, and the ropes binding him rubbed his skin raw and bloody. His whole body ached from his broken ribs and countless bruises and cuts, and his own sweat was warm and sticky against his skin. He could at least still feel his feet, but if they gave out, he would end up choking to death.

If he died, he knew he would feel no more pain. The deceased felt no pain or exhaustion, after all. But there was that tiny, minuscule chance a miracle might happen and he would be saved…

Even so, he wondered if he would still be alive once the sun finally set.

Several hours passed, and morning became afternoon, and afternoon faded away into evening. His breathing was more ragged, and the ropes around his neck had become wet with his blood. He had also grown dizzier from the loss of blood, and the pain throughout his body only made that worse. Out of the corners of his eyes he also could see pus oozing from the wounds on his wrists; they were likely infected thanks to the rusty nails. His hands were an odd shade of red and purple, and when he tried to clench his fists, his fingers hardly twitched.

"Scar… Celica…" He shut his eyes to suppress his tears. He had promised to protect them - would they be able to go on without him? With his body as mutilated as it was, he would not have a clean death, so he wouldn't be able to live as a deceased.

The only comfort he had left was the sounds of his own breathing and heartbeat. They meant he was still alive.

As the sky grew darker and the sun began to set, the temperature dropped, and Julie shivered violently. He didn't fear frostbite, but being half-naked during a cold night meant he could freeze to death. The pain he felt had not dulled at all, but his body was growing numb.

The encroaching darkness only reminded him of just how exhausted he was. If he fell asleep, he would die, not being to stop himself from strangling to death. But his eyelids were impossibly heavy, and he couldn't feel his feet, as if his toes had already froze.

His vision blurred and darkened, and when his eyes finally fell closed, the pain throughout his body seemed to lessen. Darkness overtook him, and it was strangely comfortable.

When he opened his eyes again, it was still night, and he found himself slumped against the ropes around his throat. Panicking, he tried to regain his footing, but he wasn't choking, and his lungs weren't screaming for air. In fact, he didn't feel any kind of pain. He then realized what that meant.

He really wasn't breathing, and he couldn't hear his heartbeat either. He had died.

Julie closed his eyes, even though he was no longer tired. How long would it take for him to lose his mind, all alone? How long until a gravekeeper managed to grant him salvation? Once he had desired the salvation of death, not too long ago, before he had found a new reason to live. Was this his punishment?

"Damn it…" he swore, and his eyes grew moist. At least that was still possible for this lifeless body.

More time passed, and to Julie it felt like an eternity, although it couldn't have been more than a few hours. He saw no one else, nor any kind of light, and a deathly silence hung over him.

So when he heard approaching footsteps, he almost thought he was simply imagining things.

He looked to his side, and he saw Ai and Alice coming toward him. They were both dressed in dark colors, and Ai carried her shovel on her back.

Julie stared in disbelief. Was he simply hallucinating? How had they found him? "Ai…?" he forced out, and his voice sounded unnaturally rough to his own ears.

Ai got onto Alice's shoulders and he hoisted her upwards so that she was at eye level with Julie. "Julie…" she whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner." She took out a small knife and began to cut the ropes around his neck.

Julie said nothing; he had no idea what to say. Ai was real, and he could feel her warmth. Had she realized he was already dead?

Once his throat was unbound, she started cutting the ropes around his right wrist, and she almost gagged when she saw the rusty nail piercing the flesh. She pried it out with her knife, and then she did the same to his other wrist, and no blood gushed from either wound. As Alice undid the ropes around his ankles, Ai slipped her arms underneath his to hold him tightly as Alice carefully brought the both of them to the ground.

Once Julie was free of the cross, Ai had one arm wrapped around his waist and her other arm supported his head and shoulders, and Alice knelt next to him. "Pops, what happened to you?" he asked, looking over Julie's body.

"I… died," Julie replied, forcing his voice to stay even. If they hadn't figured it out by now, there was no use hiding it any longer. It was dark enough that Ai probably couldn't tell just how horrible he looked, and for that he was thankful.

Ai's eyes grew wide in shock. "No, Julie…" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I…"

"It's not your fault," Julie said quickly. "Look, we need to leave now. The people who captured me were looking for you too, Ai."

"Okay, we'll head back to the village," Ai said, her voice shaky. "That's where Dee and Scar-"

"No," Julie interrupted. "I don't want them to see me like this. Ai…" He hesitated; what he was about to ask was impossibly cruel and almost selfish. "Could you bury me?"

Ai could say nothing in response. Her eyes only filled with more tears.

Alice spoke instead. "H-Hey, don't you that's rather cruel to ask her?"

"I know, and I'm sorry." A sorrowful smile came upon Julie's lips. "If I had died cleanly, maybe things would be different. But I can barely move, so I would just be a burden."

"I'll… I'll do it," Ai said, and she laid her hand on the nape of his neck to press his head against her shoulder as her other arm came around his back, and he felt her tears against his skin. "I understand, Julie. I'll put you to rest."

"Thank you, Ai." Julie tried to raise his hand to touch Ai's face. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise."

Ai and Alice placed Julie's arms around their shoulders, and while Julie could still move his legs to an extent, his feet were dark and unresponsive, so he had to rely on Ai and Alice, and his greater height made that somewhat difficult. However, neither complained as they helped carry him.

Julie took a brief glance over his shoulder. He saw that hollow building in the distance, and beyond that was the forest. He saw no lights, so he hoped those sadists would notice nothing. In this condition, he would not be able to protect Ai and Alice.

The three of them walked in silence for over two hours. They moved slowly and stopped to rest often, and Ai seemed to have an idea of where she was going. Julie saw a strange shine in her green eyes, something like determination mixed with sorrow. He had seen that look on her before.

As they walked, Julie felt no pain or exhaustion, even as he could hardly move. It was as if his mind was trapped in the flesh of a doll. He tried to sigh, but he no longer needed to breathe. If Ai didn't bury him, how long would it take for his body to rot? Probably not long at all, he thought; it already felt like his body was falling apart.

Eventually the three of them reached a grassy cliff that overlooked a large forest and river. The sun was just about to rise, casting a soft light on everything. "What do you think, Julie?" Ai asked, unable to meet his gaze.

"It's beautiful, Ai," he answered with a weak smile.

"We passed by here when we were looking for you," Alice added. "I didn't think…"

Ai took her shovel from her back. "I'll start now," she said as the faint sunlight caught her tears.

She worked alone for nearly an hour. Alice had offered to help her, but she refused, so instead he found two pieces of wood to put together as a cross for Julie's grave.

_Grave._ Julie had accepted his death, but that didn't mean his heart wasn't full of regrets. As Ai dug, he rested against a tree and watched her. The sun was rising, and in this morning light she would be able to more clearly see how wretched he looked. He looked down at his arms; his hands were discolored and dry blood caked his wrists, and within the puncture wounds he could even see a bit of bone. With how he had died, he could only imagine how his face looked; were his eyes bloodshot, or his lips blue? He was hardly better than a walking corpse, and he hadn't wanted Ai to see him like this.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Alice asked, and he stood next to Julie. "You're leaving her without giving her much of a chance to say goodbye."

"It's cruel, I know." Julie leaned his head back, his eyes half-closed. "She already had to bury her own father, and now I'm forcing her to bury me."

Surprise was briefly visible on Alice's face, but he said nothing in response.

Julie turned his gaze toward Alice. "Take care of Ai for me, okay? And if you ever hurt her, I'll come back as a ghost and haunt you."

Alice couldn't help but laugh, faint as it was. "I'll remember that, Pops."

When Ai was finally finished digging the grave, Julie forced himself to stand while using the tree for support, and he walked over to her, trying not to stumble over his own feet. "Ai…" he said as he knelt at her side, and then he wrapped his arms around her as best he could for a tight embrace.

"Julie?" Ai said, and she couldn't hide the surprise on her face.

"I wish I could see Scar and Celica again," he said in a quiet voice. "I don't even have anything to leave them…"

"They'll have their memories of you," Ai replied as she put her arms around Julie's back. She was shaking, he noticed. "We won't forget you."

Julie managed a smile, and he lightly kissed Ai's forehead. "I love you, Ai. You were like a daughter to me."

She sobbed, but she still tried to smile. "Julie, I'm so happy I was able to meet you… I couldn't have made it this far without you…"

Alice came closer to them and laid his hand on Julie's shoulder. "I'll stay by her side, I promise," he said in a firm tone.

"Thank you, Alice," was all Julie could say.

Ai touched Julie's face. "Are… are you ready?" she asked, and tears ran down her cheeks.

Julie closed his eyes. "Yes. Goodbye, Ai."

"Goodbye, Julie."

Ai and Alice carefully lowered Julie into the grave. He didn't resist, and Ai held his hand for as long as she could. The last thing he saw was her tear-stained face, and then bright, warm light overtook his vision, and his body felt lighter.

She cradled his soul, and he finally felt at peace.


End file.
